Kultur 2- Reid Lott

While I was growing up, the windows were always open when the weather was right. Even in the summertime, if we could simply get away with leaving a window open instead of using A/C, we left the window open. Nothing bad even came from this, so "Draftphobia" seemed pretty strange to me. The belief that drafts cause pneumonia, fly, colds, and other problems could be true for airbourne illnesses, but I am pretty skeptical about the claim for non-airbourne ilnnesses.

What effect does this have the health of Germans? Thanks to the order of selections, the question of German health was answered in "You Have What?" I have always been skeptical of medicine, but my mother convinced me last year that the common medications are nothing that could harm me or cause me to form dependence, which stands in contrast to the German's homeopathic route. (The University of Michigan actually had a college of Homeopathic Medicine in the 19th century until the administration realized how ineffective homeopathic medicine was.) The variety of diseases unique to Germany seemed odd, though, especially considering that most diseases are restricted to regions irrespective of country boundaries. This leads to the idea that it is a culturally-based phenomenon, but maybe I should take some herbal tea to rid myself of that idea.

In regards to university, I was both amused and skeptical to here about the low cost of living as a student in Germany. Firstly, I assumed that this must be a huge burden on the country, and secondly, that this would encourage more people to pursue an education. Well, I guess I was right. Unfortunately, the lack of pressure to finish degrees and low cost of living creates "eternal students" and the low surcharges associated with hiring student employees means that the job market for those that have a degree is smaller. Like all seemingly good policies, this one, too, has its downfalls.

As part of a history course last year, I studied the German university system in the 19th Century. The ideas of free education and format were similar to the ones in the article. Also, America adopted many of the structural ideas and that is why the lecture-discussion and seminar format is shared between the two cultures. The idea that students are upset over having an increase in fees is reasonable, but considering the low cost already, it seems that they are demanding a little too much. All-in-all, the education system seems to be doing alright in Germnay.